Lowell junior forward Taylor Sui goes up for a shot in the lane against University on Saturday at Lowell High School. (Photo by Christian Chew)

By Josh Levine

Lowell High School’s girls basketball team had one objective in defending visiting University on Saturday – stop Amelia King.

The Cardinals accomplished that goal and held the standout senior center to four points in a 58-34 Lowell rout in non-league play on Saturday night

King, University’s leading scorer, only took three shots from the field, as constant Lowell double and triple teams prevented the ball from getting in her hands.

Lowell junior guard Katarina Lum drives through the University defense on Saturday at Lowell High School. (Photo by Christian Chew)

“We knew coming in to the game that if we stopped their big girl, we could stop them,” said Lowell head coach Aki Kuwada. “She’s a focal point for them on offense. We read a lot of stories on University . . . about Amelia and we knew we had to take her out.”

Lowell (20-4) ran a full-court pressure defense the entire game and forced 26 University turnovers in the process.

“We didn’t take care of the ball today and the credit should [go] to Lowell. They were responsible for everything,” said University head coach Jason Montana. “They pressured us and we haven’t seen that all season. It shocked us.”

The Red Devils (22-4) stayed close until the second quarter, when Lowell used a 10-0 run and nine Red Devil turnovers to take a 31-16 halftime lead.

“We just ran them,” said Lowell junior guard Katarina Lum. “They didn’t look like they were in shape. I thought they’d be more of a challenge to us. Since we haven’t played them before, we went with a press defense and wore them out.”

Lum led all scorers with 22 points and sat out a majority of the fourth quarter with the game in hand. No other Lowell players scored in double figures, but ten players scored.

For both teams, the game was essentially a primer for the playoffs. University plays Marin Academy in the Bay Counties West League semifinals on Wednesday and Lowell has one more league game against Wallenburg before the Academic Athletic Association playoffs begin.

“If Marin [Academy] watched this game, they would probably press us,” Montana joked. “But Lowell is really good at the press. It’s not something you can pick up in two days. But we were exposed to a lot of things we can improve on.”

I don’t see how Lum’s words were harsh. She was only saying that she believed University was better than what they displayed (which might be true). Maybe Univeristy just had a bad game and Lowell benefited from it. Both are playoff bound and should do well. As for Lowell, they’ll win the AAA championship with ease.

Reporters simply ask the questions; we don’t provide the answer. I asked Katarina, “What did you think about University as a team? Were you surprised by how they played today?” It’s more than a fair question and how she responds is up to her.

I think what she said was fair and accurate. University did not have the endurance and stamina that Lowell did; especially with the press. But I do have to defend what reporters do; we choose the questions and not the answers. Had I asked her specifically about the endurance and stamina of University… That would be different. But I didn’t.

Well said JL. People seem to take what players and/or coaches say out of context sometimes without really evaluating the entire. If you relate what players and coaches say to how the game was played (or relate it to what occured during the game), people might have a better understanding of why certain comments are made.

I don’t think this was a worry thing for either team; as everyone has said, both teams are going to their respective playoffs. This is a good chance to work on new techniques, tactics, and formations against strong opponents that they could use in the playoffs.

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